1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an improvement in a tag attacher for use in affixing price tags or the like to articles, or putting a plurality of articles together, with tag pins.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A tag pin consists, as shown in FIG. 1, of a head portion H, a lateral rod B, and a filament F connecting the head portion H and lateral rod B together. A tag pin assembly t, which constitutes a unit of production of the tab pins, and which is generally in the shape of a comb, consists of a plurality of tag pins, and a connecting bar R, to which the tag pins are joined via connecting portions C extended in alignment with the filaments F and beyond the lateral rods B.
The tag pin assembly T is obtained by molding a linear macromolecular material, such as nylon and polypropylene.
In an ordinary method of manufacturing tag pin assemblies T, a metal mold is heated to a high temperature, and a high-temperature molten resin is injected therein. A tag pin assembly T obtained by this method is crystallized in its entirety. Therefore, the filaments F extended between the head portions H and lateral rods B can be subjected to molecular orientation by stretching the same. The filaments F thus stretched becomes tough and thin, and have firm connecting portions between the filaments F and lateral rods B. Accordingly, an operation for driving a tag pin into an article by a tag attacher to affix a price tag or the like thereto can be carried out easily. Moreover, since the filament of the tag pin is very thin, a textile material can be prevented from being damaged thereby.
However, the filament of a tag pin manufactured by the above-mentioned method is in an already-stretched state, so that the tag pin does not permit bundling a plurality of articles, for example, socks and gloves closely to one another.
Since the length of the filament of such a tag pin cannot be varied, it is necessary that tag pins of different lengths be prepared in accordance with the use thereof. This makes it necessary to prepare various sizes of metal molds, and the controlling of metal molds and products becomes complicated. As a result, the cost of manufacturing tag pin assemblies is necessarily increased.
The inventor of the present invention has made efforts to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks encountered in a conventional tag pin having an already-stretched filaments, and developed a tag pin having a filament capable of being stretched when the tag pin is driven into an article by a tag attacher. This tag pin can be obtained by non-crystallizing at least the filament thereof. Since this tag pin can be stretched at its filament when it is driven into an article by a tag attacher, the length thereof can be regulated arbitrarily. Accordingly, articles bundled with this tag pin are in a closely contacting state. In other words, this tag pin permits packaging articles in an excellent state. Furthermore, the present invention permits obtaining tag pins having a plurality of applications by using one kind of metal mold, so that the products can be controlled advantageously.
However, it has been discovered that loading the above-mentioned tag pin having a stretchable filament in a known tag attacher as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,924,788, and driving them into articles accompanies a serious trouble. The non-crystallized filament is advantageous in that it can be stretched at normal temperature and renders the use of a special heat-stretcher unnecessary but it is in an extremely delicate condition when it starts being stretched. When the filament starts being stretched, necking (narrowing) occurs therein, i.e. the cross-sectional area of a part of the filament is decreased suddenly. Such a cross section-reducing phenomenon occurs successively in the direction of the length of the filament. The results of the discussion of the stretching behavior of the filament show that, when the filament is drawn suddenly before necking has occurred therein, it is broken, but that, after necking has once occurred in the filament, it is not broken even when it is stretched at a considerably high rate.
In order to drive the above-mentioned tag pins into articles by using a conventional tag attacher as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,924,788, they are subjected to the same method as already-stretched tag pins. This conventional tag attacher is shaped like a pistol, and so designed that, when a lever is gripped, the lateral rod of a tag pin is forced into a slitted needle. Since the lever-gripping speed is considerably high, the lateral rod of the tag pin is forced into the slitted needle at such a speed that is far higher than an optimum filament-stretching rate for causing necking to occur therein. Consequently, the breakage of filaments occurs frequently.
The inventor of the present invention, who discussed the filament-stretching rate with a view to eliminating the above-mentioned drawbacks encountered in the conventional tag attacher, discovered that, when the lever of the tag attacher is drawn in such a manner that the lateral rod of the tag pin is pressed initially lightly or with a small force and thereafter with a normal force, the filament is not substantially broken.